Armenian PM Votes, Vows Turkish Ties, EU Path After Election
Pashinyan voiced confidence that border crossings and transport links — including rail and road connections — between Armenia and Türkiye would reopen in the near future, a state news agency reported.
"We currently, fortunately, have peace with Azerbaijan. You know that we have very deep and fraternal relations with Georgia. And, of course, I expect the normalization of relations with Türkiye and the establishment of diplomatic relations," he said.
The prime minister also championed Armenia's flagship "Crossroads of Peace" initiative, describing it as a transformative regional connectivity project capable of expanding east-west and north-south transport corridors for the benefit of Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Türkiye, and Iran.
Polling stations across Armenia opened at 8 am local time (0400 GMT), with sixteen political parties and two political alliances registered to contest the vote, including Pashinyan's ruling Civil Contract party.
On foreign policy, Pashinyan outlined a dual-track vision: deepening EU integration while maintaining what he described as a "balanced foreign policy" across Armenia's relationships with both Brussels and Moscow.
He said Yerevan would press ahead with aligning domestic standards to EU norms regardless of the ultimate outcome, offering a candid assessment of the path ahead: "When Armenia is fully and sincerely aligned with the standards of the European Union, two scenarios are possible. The first is that the European Union will accept Armenia as a full member. The second is that it will not, because that depends on many political circumstances; for example, the EU may decide not to expand at all," adding that in both cases, Armenia stands to benefit, since alignment with European standards carries intrinsic value independent of membership.
Pushing back on narratives of Armenian-Russian friction, Pashinyan dismissed portrayals of strained ties with Moscow as politically motivated distortion.
"Certain forces operating in Armenia are trying to create tensions in Armenia-Russia relations. These tensions are not created for the simple reason that I have very close relations with the president of the Russian Federation," he noted, adding that he sees no genuine tension in the bilateral relationship and characterized such claims as "artificial."
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